


haunting

by sanguinetti



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, pavellan - Freeform, soft dorian is soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-10 15:07:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20853767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanguinetti/pseuds/sanguinetti
Summary: Zathrion has a nightmare about his past but Dorian is there to comfort him.





	haunting

10 years.

10 goddamn years ago. 

Zathrion knew he’d never be able to get that night out of his head. The screams and cries were still fresh in his mind a decade later. He had left his wife and son in their tent that night to go off with the hunters for a change in scenery. Being his Keeper’s First and being an attentive husband and father often kept him from doing much outside of the camp’s confines. 

He had been hesitant to leave, afraid to leave just in case shems tried to raid the camp again. But with some encouragement from Revas, his wife, he decided to go for a short hike with his friends. He had grabbed his staff and cloak before turning and kissing his family goodbye. 

He had been gone for a measly 30 minutes before his life went to complete shit. 

His heart dropped to his stomach as he saw the rising smoke from the camp. His friends wanted to believe they were having a bonfire but Zathrion knew better. He had never run so fast in his life as he maneuvered through the forest back to his camp. With his chest burning and his legs aching, he made it back in 10 minutes. 

10 minutes too late. 

The worst part of that night was hearing the screams and cries from everyone in the camp. He had never felt so helpless as he fought through the humans to get his tent. Deep down, he knew he was too late. He kept fighting nonetheless, determined to save his family. 

But by the time he reached the tent, he found it had collapsed on them, rendering them unable to leave. 

They were little more than ash at that point. 

He couldn’t remember much after he felt his magic pulse and the camp freezing over. 

He buried Revas and Taren’s remains the next morning when he was lucid enough to do so. His Keeper had told him, he froze the camp over and killed every last human that was there that night. She had never seen such magic come from him. 

“Good. I should have done it earlier.” He had told her. 

He had little patience for a proper funeral at that point. So many others had died, he’d be waiting days and he couldn’t do that. He buried them under a tree that he had carved their initials into and just sat there. For hours. It was his fault, he knew this. It had haunted him every night from then on. If he had just stayed there, he could’ve protected them or maybe died with them. It would’ve been kinder than this. 

~

He awoke that night shaking violently with hot tears running down his face. He wrapped his arms around himself, slipping out of his and Dorian’s shared bed. He quickly padded across the room, wanting to leave as quickly as possible so Dorian wouldn’t have to see him like this. 

Zathrion knew he was unsuccessful when he heard a familiar velvety voice whisper, “Amatus?” 

Zathrion’s breathing quickened as he approached the stairs. He knew it was no use as it was probably rather obvious something was wrong. He didn’t trust himself to speak so he persisted, walking down the first few steps. The warm hand wrapping around his wrist was enough to stop him. Dorian’s warm touch had always been a nice contrast to his cold skin. He simply stared at Dorian’s hand, not daring to look at his face. He knew what expression Dorian would be wearing and it would be one of pity. He didn’t deserve that, it was his fault. 

“What’s wrong?” Dorian asked, his tone gentle and voice still heavy with sleep. 

“Nothing,” Zathrion mumbled, his voice already wavering as he tried to escape Dorian’s grip. 

Dorian nearly scoffed, his grip on Zathrion not wavering. “Surely, you don’t expect me to believe that?” 

Looking at Dorian’s concerned expression was Zathrion’s breaking point. Tears began to spill and a whimper escaped his lips. He buried his head in Dorian’s shoulder, wrapping his arms around his slightly larger frame. Dorian knew there was little point in pressing for details so he wrapped his arms around Zathrion’s shaking frame, petting his curly hair soothingly. This was the first time Dorian had seen Zathrion so upset. He wasn’t surprised though, he was expecting it. Being the Inquisitor had been an enormous burden on Zathrion’s shoulders and he was bound to break at some point. 

Dorian pulled away for a moment, thumbing away some of Zathrion’s tears before guiding him back to bed. Zathrion quickly wrapped himself around Dorian as he usually did when he was upset. Dorian pulled Zathrion tightly against him and ran his fingers through his hair. 

After he had calmed down enough to speak, Zathrion pulled his head away from Dorian’s neck and began to tell him about what had him so distraught. 

“That’s hardly your fault, amatus. There’s nothing you could have done.” Dorian consoled, brushing stray curls from Zathrion’s face. 

“I could’ve stayed with them, I could’ve protected them. I could have done  _ something _ , Dorian.” 

Dorian leaned back with a sigh, his gray eyes boring into Zathrion’s golden ones. “So stubborn… I know I can’t change your mind but you could’ve ended up the same way they did. Where would I be without you?” 

Zathrion let out a soft chuckle. “Probably somewhere warmer.” 

“Warmer, maybe. But I would’ve been married off some woman or found my way to a ship of Qunari pirates.”

Zathrion barked out a genuine laugh. “You’d enjoy that ship a bit too much, Vhenan. You’re not selling this very well.” 

Dorian pursed his lips. “Well, in all seriousness then, my life would terribly dull without you.” 

Zathrion knew that was the softest Dorian would get tonight so he just offered a smile and a kiss on Dorian’s nose. 

“Ar lath ma,” He whispered. 

“I’ll pretend I know what that means,” Dorian said, pulling Zathrion closer. “Go back to sleep, amatus.”

**Author's Note:**

> for loving these two as much as I do, i rarely write about them. i hope you enjoyed :)


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